Machairodus giganteus. Illustration and photo-reconstruction of two Machairoda, a male and a female, with two cubs walking in the sun. Machairodus giganteus, the largest species known within the genus Machairodus, was a large lion-sized sabre-toothed cat with elongated upper canines and cheek teeth efficiently adapted for slicing meat. The animal is known mostly from a variety of fragmentary fossils found through Europe and Asia, with the best-preserved skulls coming from China. Social behaviour is also indeterminable but may have paralleled that in modern feline species. Machairodus giganteus is associated with faunas typical of an open plain environment and may have had a life-style similar to that of a modern lion.